January/February 2008

Teaching Visual Literacy Through Graphic Novels

Gravett’s 2005 Graphic Novels: Everything You Need to Know (Collins Design) explores 30 graphic novels

The balance of power between words and images which, after
the invention of the printing press, shifted in favor of the word,
seems now to be shifting in favor of the image.
(Varnum & Gibbons, 2001, p. ix)

The graphic novel, increasingly popular with students and educators, offers teachers the opportunity to explore the “rhetoric” of the visual-print world and the opportunity for students to become media literate. Varnum and Gibbons (2001) continue, “Like film, television and the Internet, comics systematically combines words and pictures” (p. ix). This unique medium of comics, graphic novels especially, offers great stories, art, and information, and the opportunity for students to apply critical thinking to analyze, evaluate and even create graphic novels. The emerging theory of the medium may help readers to ask questions about what they read, see, and even hear.

Current Scholarship

Scholarly theory about graphic novels remains in its infancy and is emerging from multiple disciplines—art (Carrier’s 2000 The Aesthetics of Comics), English (Varnum and Gibbons’ 2001 The Language of Comics), and history (Harvey’s 1996 The Art of the Comic Book: An Aesthetic History), as well as cultural studies. Scholars do not all distinguish between the comic book and the graphic novel; moreover, the term “graphic novel” itself remains problematic (Wolk, pp. 60-64). However, the graphic novel is seen as legitimate art and is garnering support in the classroom from Scholastic Publishing to the Maryland Comic Book Initiative.

The National Council of Teachers of English publishes Building Literacy Connections with Graphic Novels, edited by Carter (2007), offering classroom lesson ideas. At the extreme end of the scholarly literature is The System of Comics (2007) by French scholar, Thierry Groensteen, a “semiology of comics” in which the author argues that the words in a graphic novel are really irrelevant. Perhaps most useful for educators are the works of two graphic novelists, Will Eisner and Scott McCloud.

Building Literacy Connections Cover

Illustrating the Basics

Eisner in Comics and Sequential Art (1985) and Graphic Storytelling and Visual Narrative (1996) and McCloud in Understanding Comics (1993) offer both helpful histories of the medium and accessible means to understanding graphic novels and their codes with visual examples. Their explanations of terms are precisely those that can help ordinary readers analyze and understand the medium, including:

Speech balloon—With a solid line, the speech balloon includes characters’ words; a dotted line can indicate characters’ thoughts. The font also plays a role in the storytelling, conveying emphasis, diction, etc.
The panel—This is the basic unit of the medium, capturing one segment of the story. The size, shape, and placement of the panels propel the narrative.
The gutter—This is the empty space between panels. Even this can be used to convey meaning.

Familiarity with the basic concepts and conventions of the graphic novel enables students to ask questions such as why are there so few speech balloons in a certain story, or why is a whole page just one panel, or would this information seem different in color rather than black and white? Just as we use such concepts as plot, character, and setting to better understand and discuss print fiction, we can use concepts of the graphic novel to understand how it communicates.

Reading the Critics

Another way to understand how to analyze and evaluate graphic novels is to read critical essays which can be found in The Comics Journal or in books like Wolk’s (2007) Reading Comics: How Graphic Novels Work and What They Mean. Wolk discusses examples from works by Will Eisner, Frank Miller, Hope Larson, and others. These critiques, whether one agrees with them or not, demonstrate ways of thinking about graphic novels. Reading how others analyze and evaluate graphic novels and their creators can help readers make meaning for themselves. So far, graphic novels criticism remains highly personal and impressionistic. No distinct schools of criticism with their own theory bases have yet emerged.

Conclusion: Doing it Yourself

One other source that may prove helpful to teachers and students is the growing number of “how to” books such as How to Draw Graphic Novels (2004) by Victor Davila, that teach how to make graphic novels. Calling on graphic design theory, The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Creating a Graphic Novel (2004) by Gertler and Lieber offers a survey of the graphic novel along with techniques in drawing, lay-out, lettering, and creating plots. With some exploration of the scholarship, criticism, and do-it-yourself resources, teachers can begin to understand the graphic novel and use it to extend student literacies, challenging students to think about perceptions of images and text, and their role in multiple literacies.

References

Carrier, D. (2000). The aesthetics of comics. University Park, PA: The Pennsylvania State University Press.

Carter, J. B. (Ed.). (2007). Building literacy connections with graphic novels. Urbana, IL: National Council of Teachers of English

Davila, V.(Ed.). (2004) How to draw graphic novels. New York: Scholastic .

Eisner, W. (1996). Graphic storytelling and visual narrative. Tamarac, FL: Poorhouse Press.

Eisner, W. (1985). Comics & sequential art. Tamarac, FL: Poorhouse Press.

Gertler, N., & Lieber, S. (2004). The complete idiot’s guide to creating a graphic novel. Indianapolis, IN: Alpha Books.

Groensteen, T. (2007). The system of comics. ( B. Beaty & N. Nguyen, Trans.). Jackson, Mississippi: University Press of Mississippi. (Original work published 1999)

Harvey, R. C. (1996). The art of the comic book. Jackson, Mississippi: University Press of Mississippi.

McCloud, S. (1993). Understanding comics: The invisible art. New York: Harper Collins.

Varnum, R., & Gibbons, C. T. (Eds.). (2001). The language of comics. Jackson, Mississippi: University Press of Mississippi.

Wolk, D. (2007). Reading comics: How graphic novels work and what they mean. Cambridge, MA: Da Capo Press.

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Gretchen Schwarz is a Professor in the School of Teaching and Curriculum Leadership at Oklahoma State University, with teaching and research interests in media literacy and graphic novels. She just saw the film version of Persepolis, which was wonderful but only the first half is classroom friendly..

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